Corkmaster and Carrie hosted the August Sock Party on Friday 22nd. Thanks to Carrie for her co-hosting, and to everyone who attended. Here is the list of wines with some comments from me…..

La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry (Hidalgo) (Welcome Wine)
Pale, salty and herby tinged nose, crisp and deep at the same time – a classic Manzanilla, so refreshing and perfect with olives and toasted Almonds

Gentil de Katz 2011 (Clement Klur) (Ann)
Floral, even Rose, nose – warm palate, slightly thick and with pear notes, but mineral and some acid supporting. Gewurz is prominent but this has (more?) Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris in it. Very refreshing and well balanced – good with Pâté and Tapenade….

Oakridge Yarra Valley Fumé 2010 (Paul)
Grassy, and oily and mineral tones. Good acid mineral at first but the mineral recedes to give a more Sauvignon Blanc foreground, with the Semillon more recessed. Very interesting style, more associated with W. Australia.

Etna Bianco 2012 (Nicosia) (Yvonne)
Fragrant nose, with hints of baking spice (Cardomom?) Palate is rich, with good acidity. A food wine – designed for fish but would serve other dishes well.

La Segreta 2013 (Planeta) (Sue)
Slightly frizzante quality, and similar notes to the previous wine. Longer flavours and a bigger package but a wine of similar structure and use.

Fixin “En Combe Roy” 2009 (Jeanniard) (Anna)
Similar flavours to the previous wine, (earth, red fruit) especially after some time. But younger and less evolved and a slightly higher fruit to structure ratio – from a warmer year?

“William Randell” Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010 (Thorn-Clarke) (John)
Big dark red wine, with warm herby (even Eucalyptus) hints and Damson fruit. More obviously Aus than Shiraz at first, but after a while the fruit becomes more Blackberry and the distinctive salt/olive/bacon tone starts to appear, but (this isn’t meant to be faint praise) not too obtrusively.

Fruili – Grave Merlot 2011 (Bidoli) (Rob)
Spirity nose, with hints of black fruit, and some wood. Palate has big black fruit with a dry chewy tannin backbone. Acid seem recessed behind the tannins at first. Latter the fruit moves more towards the Merlot, plum / cherry, spectrum. I suspect this needs a couple of years, which would be worth waiting for.

Chateau Gasquerie 2010 (Cotes de Castillon) (Mike)
Plum and mushroom nose, with sweet wood hints… Very expressive and typical. Plum fruit palate with good balance and hint of herbyness. A classic Right Bank wine – it turns out to be 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. Good

Le Siècle Georgina 2000 (Jean-Francois Merieau) (Laurie)
This is from Saint Julien de Chedon, a small village on the banks of river Cher just East of Montrichard, in the East Touraine region. This wine is a sweet Sauvignon Blanc, made from late harvested grapes only in occasional years, and in very small quantities. It is named in honour of Jean Francois’s great grandmother ‘Georgina’! It has a refreshing nose with aromas of apricots. The palate has honey, dried fruit and hints of exotic fruit, even pineapple with a crisp acidity which makes it balanced. Pretty precise match for the Apricot Clafoutis we were served IMO. Yum!!!